Movies about filmmaking can sometimes be too self-reverential and geeky and while this strange film does edge towards self-indulgence it still makes for a riveting, strange and at times wonderful dip into the dark side.
Set almost entirely inside a film-editing suite, its unlikely hero is Gilderoy, a fussy, techno-obsessed little man played with relish by the great Toby Jones. His portrayal of Alfred Hitchcock in The Girl confirmed what fans already knew, he is one of the great British talents of his generation.
Here he holds the whole film together with a simply stunning performance. Gilderoy turns up at an Italian film studio to lay down the soundtrack to a low-budget Italian horror film. The beautiful receptionist is sniffy with him, dismisses his claim for the money for his flight, and the people working on the film are not much more helpful.
The film, The Equestrian Vortex, is never actually seen apart from some superbly realised credits all we see is Gilderoy’s troubled face, inserting ever more gory sound effects into what seems to be a film about witch-hunting in the 14th century. Women scream, limbs are severed, and red hot pokers are inserted into intimate places. Gilderoy is simply doing his job, but appears more disturbed as the film grinds on.
He gets little change out of his producer and director both of whom seem to have some strange agenda, and who keep assuring Gilderoy he is great and he’ll get his money. He is not convinced.
It’s clearly a mood piece, and draws on several other similar films, especially Blow Out and The Conversation, both of which feature men driven mad by piecing together a fractured soundtrack with various equipment. Here Gilderoy is similarly piecing together a story he has no comprehension of, and might even be on the verge of solving a mystery.
In one small scene he is seen listening to a woman’s voice singing a chant-like song, and adding various effects and echoes to make it unbelievably haunting and beautiful.
Having set up an eerie, strange and unsettling David Lynch-like mood, the film then takes a left turn which it would be unfair to reveal but which actually fits in with the homage to Italian horror film it clearly is. A great keyboard-heavy soundtrack by Broadcast caps off a tremendous genre piece.
Overall verdict: Any fans of Dario Argento and Italian horror films will love this anyone coming to it not knowing what to expect might be utterly baffled but in a pleasurable way.
Special Features:
Director’s commentary
Reviewer: Mike Martin